By Anne Azuka
Vice Presidential Candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor of Delta, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, on Monday, said the eight-month strike by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) did not apply to the four universities owned by the state.
He said the four universities did not join in the industrial dispute because his administration had provided what the striking universities were demanding from their employers.
Okowa spoke at Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Day celebration in Asaba.
He said the state government’s attention to the universities was the same way it attended to all sectors in the state for development.
He disclosed that his administration had constructed no fewer than 2,000 kilometres of roads and close to that number of kilometres for drainages across the state.
The governor said that the roads were constructed in the riverside communities hitherto dubbed hard-to-reach areas.
He said that the government had provided huge number of infrastructure in the state, adding, however, that he was particularly keen at celebrating the projects with fanfare associated with inaugaration.
According to him, money that would have been used to inaugurate completed projects could be channelled into other projects for the overall benefit of the people.
He disclosed that there were a lot that have been done in the state in terms of projects delivery, adding that he was not, in most cases, moved to inaugurate projects except if they were very huge projects.
“Obviously, there are a lot that have been done in the state, but many times, I am not moved to inaugurate projects except if they are very huge projects.
“The reason is that you spend monies when you want to inaugurate projects. Those monies spent on inauguration of projects can be put back to do other things for the state. So, occasionally, we commission projects.
“But in terms of quality of roads in this country, I am not sure that any state has done the number of roads we have done in this state. We have done over 2,000 kilometres of roads.
“Even in our riverine areas, we have constructed roads. When we were starting the secretariat, people criticised us but today, I feel civil servants are happy for it,” he stated.
On the theme of the celebration “His Birth, Our Hope,” Okowa said the birth of Christ is the hope of all Christians, adding “for Christ to truly be our hope we must learn to walk in him.
“If we want to reap the benefit we must learn to work with Christ that is working with everything we have been taught.
“As a state, we are grateful for the prayers of our Christian fathers and for their great impact on the government.
“We owe all our successes and achievements to God. When I look at where we came from and where we are today, we must give thanks to the Lord our God.
“We are proud that Delta now run four universities and they are functional and when other universities went on strike, all our universities were working.”
In his remarks, Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Delta State Chapter, Senior Apostle Sylvanus Okorete commended Governor Okowa for the construction of the Christian Centre in Asaba.
He lauded the cordial relationship between CAN and the state government and urged religious leaders in the state to give their full support to the aspiration of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to become the first Deltan to be elected Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Okorote noted that the state secretariat of CAN being built and furnished by the state government has over 2,500 seating capacity, adding that the magnificent project would promote inter-denominational worship of God.
He implored Deltans of voting age to ensure that they collect their Permanent Voter’s Card (PVCs) and vote in the forthcoming general elections in the country, even as he urged Christians to worship God with contentment.
